Recipe Review: Muffins

A couple of years ago, when my sous chef was two years old, he wanted to make "nuffins" on Saturday mornings.  We would leave the extras on our neighbors' front porches.

I found three amazing muffin recipes on allrecipes.com:

Jumbo Fluffy Apple Walnut Muffins

To Die For Blueberry Muffins

Banana Crumb Muffins

All of the recipes lived up to their name and their 5-star rating.

This morning we made the banana crumb muffins for Father's Day.  We mixed in Heath chips.  They should be a treat!

Restaurant Review: Kenny's Burger Joint (Plano, TX)

Today is my birthday!  And I always need to eat good food on my birthday.

I decided to try Kenny's Burger Joint since I'm always hearing rave reviews.

I ordered a classic cheeseburger.  It reminded me of home-grilled burgers.  Yum!

But even better than the burger were the loaded cheese fries.  Kenny knows how to do cheese fries!  There's nothing worse than eating a few cheese fries and being left with a plate of plain fries underneath.  Not so at Kenny's!  There is cheese on every fry.

I don't know that Kenny's is my favorite burger in Dallas (Liberty Burger and Hopdoddy are some tough competition), but I definitely wouldn't turn down an opportunity to eat here again.

Foolproof Brown Rice

I am always trying to eat healthier, and especially try to replace the white carbs in my diet with whole grains.  I actually really like brown rice.  However, it can be tricky to cook.

Here is a foolproof method for cooking brown rice (from Our Best Bites blog).  You cook it like pasta -- by boiling it in excess water!  Just be sure your colander/strainer has holes small enough that the rice won't pass through when you drain it.

Favorite Foods Tour

To celebrate my friend Ginger's birthday, we had a progressive dinner at three different restaurants and ate some of her favorite foods.

First stop - appetizers:  Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen for lump crab & spinach dip and Greek salad

Next stop - entrees:  Maggiano's Little Italy for Rigatoni D pasta

Final stop - dessert:  Breadwinners Cafe for chocolate seduction cake

Sugar Cookie Pops

Tomorrow I am teaching a lesson to our women's group at church and the lesson uses the sunflower following the sun as a symbol for us following Christ.  I decided to send the ladies home with a little reminder of the lesson.

I made my favorite sugar cookie dough recipe.  I used my mini flower cookie cutter to cut out the dough.  I added a lollipop stick before baking the dough.

I tinted store bought frosting with food color, frosted the cookie and added an M&M.  I packaged the cookie pop with a treat bag and ribbon.

Tomorrow is also our babysitter's birthday, so I made a few extra cookie pops for a birthday cookie bouquet.

My sous chef was a willing helper:

Recipe Review: Rolled Sugar Cookies

I have a batch of rolled sugar cookies chilling in my refrigerator right now.  I discovered the recipe at allrecipes.com a few years ago and have made it several times.  With this recipe my sugar cookies always turn out perfect.  I like to roll them thick and pull them out of the oven just as they are starting to brown.  The recipe makes about four dozen cookies so I usually make a half recipe.

Unlike most sugar cookie recipes, the dough tastes amazing even before it's baked.  My taste tester agrees:

If I am feeling ambitious, I make homemade frosting.  My favorite is this Swig copycat frosting with sour cream and salt (I use 1/2 cup sour cream and omit the milk).  I've used vegan sour cream successfully but it has to be one with a mild flavor.

Here are some sugar cookies that my little guy helped me make awhile back:

Recipe Review: Fudgy Chocolate Fondue

A few years ago I found a recipe for chocolate fondue on Pinterest (original source is the Sing for Your Supper blog).  I made the fondue for a Valentine's Day party and it was super delicious.  I made it for Valentine's Day again this year.  The best part is choosing all the yummy things to dip in the chocolate!